Nubian Square (formerly Dudley Square) is the primary commercial center of the
Roxbury neighborhood of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, located at the intersection of Dudley Street and
Washington Street. It has long been the center of
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
culture in Boston, prior to which the area was primarily
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
For most of the twentieth century, the square was a multi-mode transportation hub, centered at
Dudley station, now Nubian station of the
Washington Street Elevated
The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line. It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending i ...
, which closed in 1987.
Several
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
lines radiated to surrounding neighborhoods from the elevated station. It is now a substantial bus terminal and terminus for the
MBTA
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
's
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
Silver Line.
History
In the colonial and post-revolutionary periods, Washington Street was the only connection between
Shawmut Peninsula
Shawmut Peninsula is the promontory of land on which Boston, Massachusetts was built. The peninsula, originally a mere in area,Miller, Bradford A., "Digging up Boston: The Big Dig Builds on Centuries of Geological Engineering", GeoTimes, Octobe ...
, on which
Old Boston was located, and the mainland. Nubian Square is located on the mainland side of what was the Washington Street isthmus, an area known as
The Neck.
At the time, it was known as Dudley Square. Notable development began in Roxbury in the 19th century, and Nubian Square served as a commercial center in this period. As Boston introduced streetcar service through the
Boston Elevated Railway
The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railwa ...
, Dudley Square station was opened in 1901, leading to another boom in Nubian Square's importance and reinforcing its status as a community hub.
After the Boston Elevated Railway's reorganization into the
etropolitan Transit Authority in 1947, streetcar service to Nubian Square was curtailed and replaced with bus service through the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, the
Southwest Expressway was planned to run through Roxbury, and attempts to relocate the Nubian Square community to make way for the project led to the displacement of many residents, the destruction of much of Nubian Square's community, and tensions with Boston City authorities.
The process of replacing streetcar service with bus service was completed in 1987, with the closure of the
Washington Street Elevated
The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line. It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending i ...
. Around this time, Nubian Square entered a period of reinvestment, as key community buildings, such as the post office, were rebuilt and others, such as the Roxbury Boys and Girls Club and Palladio Hall, were restored.
Name change
The square was originally named after
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley (12 October 157631 July 1653) was a New England colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the tow ...
, a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
. An effort to rename the square was led by a local community group, the Nubian Square Coalition.
The proposed name came from
the region, now in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, that was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of
ancient Africa Ancient Africa may refer to:
* ''Ancient Africa'' (album), a 1972 recording by Abdullah Ibrahim
*The area known as ''Africa'' in Classical Antiquity; see Africa (Roman province)
*The ancient history of the continent now known as Africa; see Histor ...
. Proponents noted that Dudley was "a leading politician in 1641", when the colony became the first to legally sanction slavery. Other reasons included resisting gentrification and rebuilding a sense of community ethnic identity around the square; and honoring the long-time local business A Nubian Notion, which had been in the square for 50 years.
Roxbury-based newspaper ''
The Bay State Banner'' had supported a name change, although noted in an editorial that Nubians had owned slaves, too.
Byron Rushing
Byron Rushing (born July 29, 1942) is an American politician who represented the Ninth Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019. He represented the South End neighborhood of Boston. A Democrat, he was fi ...
, former president of the
Museum of African American History in Boston, noted, “I’ve really searched, and I’ve found no evidence that Dudley ever owned slaves."
A non-binding advisory question was added to the November 5, 2019, municipal election ballot for all Boston residents asking, "Do you support the renaming/changing of the name of Dudley Square to Nubian Square?" Approximately 54% of votes cast on the question were in opposition, while approximately 46% were in favor. Although the question was defeated, it "passed in the surrounding areas" near the square, and
Mayor of Boston
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...
Marty Walsh
Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...
subsequently announced that the proposal would be considered further by the city's Public Improvement Commission.
On December 19, 2019, the Public Improvement Commission unanimously approved changing the name of Dudley Square to Nubian Square.
The name change is recorded in Boston's street register, but there is no physical city signage displaying either the old or the new name of the square.
The Nubian Square Coalition stated that they would next pursue a name change of
Dudley Square station, a bus station in the square.
In mid-February 2020, it was announced that the station would be renamed to Nubian Station.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Dudley Square Main Streets Facebook page*
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, or DSNI, is a nonprofit, community-run organization based in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1984 by residents of the Dudley Street Neighborhood, along with members of the Riley Foundation, as ...
{{coord, 42, 19, 45, N, 71, 5, 8, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title
Squares in Boston
Roxbury, Boston